Topdeck: Istanbul

I’d always liked travel, but my trip from Istanbul to London marked the beginning of a few consecutive years of trips and spells abroad, so I figured it would be the best place to start this blog. I didn’t know it back then, but this trip and the people on it would profoundly affect the next few years of my life and produce some unforgettable memories and friendships. I hope you enjoy reading about it!

Upon arriving in Istanbul my mind was focussed on two things: finding an authentic Turkish kebab and finding a toilet that wasn’t simply a hole in the floor.

We found a kebab no problem; Alex was insanely excited about it as the above photo shows. Unfortunately squatter toilets were the order of the day in central Istanbul and none of them provided toilet paper – something I realised much too late – I had to make the most of a small watering can that was in the cubicle instead.

A mixture of the heat, the strange surroundings and the squatter ordeal all contributed to me deciding to commit one of the biggest mistakes a tourist can make: I bought something from a man in the street. The product in question was Hugo Boss aftershave. The guy talked the talk and cleverly let me haggle the price down considerably; money changed hands, he was gone and I was left spraying soapy water onto my wrists from a counterfeit aftershave bottle. I learned my lesson after that and I wasn’t allowed to forget it in a hurry.

Our hotel, the Sipahi, had looked lovely on its website, but as we trudged up a steep hill to find it with our soapy water spray in hand we realised it wasn’t exactly the Ritz. There were building sites on either side of it and our rooms were, well, a glorified corridor with beds in. We made the most of it though and managed a good couple of hours of sleep.

The next day, before we met up with our Topdeck tour group to head to Bulgaria, we went to visit the Blue Mosque. It’s an amazing building, as the photo above shows – we were even lucky enough to get a tour from an insanely questionable man and see the evening prayers.

After our visit to one of the most famous mosques in the world it was time to soak up some more culture, by which of course I mean beer – Efes to be precise.

That night we joined up with the tour group at a rooftop bar for cocktails. There were 30+ of us, so the poor barman had run out of glasses. By the time me and Rob got round to ordering he had to resort to making a piña colada in some sort of sports trophy.

Next Stop: Sofia, Bulgaria.